Russia-Turkey Industrial Forum at INNOPROM-2019

08 July 2019

Russia-Turkey Industrial Forum became a key event of Tenth International Industrial Trade Fair INNOPROM-2019 Business Program. The Forum accommodated three seminal plenary sessions.

The first session Industrial Cooperation: New Tasks and Projects brought together heads of the Russian and Turkish delegations and the leadership of major business associations. Event participants shared their experiences in successful project implementation and laid the foundation for future cooperation in the industrial segment. In his opening speech, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov thanked his Turkish colleagues for their interest in the exhibition, “Russia and Turkey have well-established relations in such areas as trade, investment, and industrial cooperation. Our constructive dialog is reflected in the dynamics of bilateral turnover, which increased by 16% and exceeded $25bn in the past year. We are successfully carrying out large joint projects in metallurgy, mechanical engineering, light industry, and production of construction materials. There is a lot of potential for expanding our cooperation in aircraft engineering, shipbuilding, agricultural machine building, and pharmaceuticals.”

Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan, pointed out that Tatarstan was interested in cooperating with Turkey in various areas, "Prospective areas for cooperation include petrochemistry, mechanical engineering, and high-tech segments, as well as healthcare, tourism, and exchange of experience in providing support to small and medium enterprises. We also need to seek new ways for enhancing our cooperation in the innovative sector. We are in the position to establish new business relations. Moreover, Tatarstan has every opportunity to promote tourism localization."

Other session speakers included member of DeiK Board of Directors and Chairman of the Turkish-Russian Business Council Tuncay Ozilhan, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Sergey Katyrin, President of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce Sekib Avdagic, General Director of the Russian Export Center Andrey Slepnev, and First Deputy Director General for Corporate Development and International Business of Rosatom Kirill Komarov.

The second session was dedicated to Russia-Turkey Cooperation in Mechanical Engineering. Turkish companies were among the first to enter the Russian components market. Currently, they are working on a number of joint projects in various Russian regions. Session participants expressed their belief that there was extensive potential for further cooperation. Semih Kar, Member of the Board of Directors of Turkish mechanical engineering enterprise Kar Metal, stated, "We face high competition from European companies, but we believe that we are competitive due to low production costs and good location. We are leaning more towards Ekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk because the Urals already have advanced heavy engineering companies."

Managing Partner of RE GROUP Arsen Ayupov talked about a new trader platform, “Last year, we organized a major business forum entitled New Era in Russian-Turkish Business Relations. It was held in Moscow. At the Forum, Russian and Turkish developers signed an interesting agreement which laid the foundation for the creation of Extrady, a b2b online platform designed to merge databases of Turkish and Russian importers. We invited our colleague who co-founded the Turkish Exporters platform (large b2b platform which successfully competes with Alibaba) to join our developer team, and we believe that the secret to success is the ability to attract such partners. Extrady is currently working in pilot mode. The idea of the platform is to merge two large databases: the database of Turkish exporters and importers and the database of Russian exporters. For Russia, this is an instrument for entering the Turkish market. Later on, the platform will be interacting with a large number of countries.”

Session participants also included Chairman of the Turkish Machinery Exporters' Union Kutlu Karavelioglu, Chairman of the Russian-Turkish Business Council Ahmet Palankoev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Tatarstan Albert Karimov, Managing Director of Zyfra Pavel Rastopshin, and Managing Partner of RE GROUP Arsen Ayupov.

The third session of Russia-Turkey Industrial Forum was entitled Russia-Turkey Cooperation in Investment and Trade. Representatives of the Russian and Turkish authorities and the business community discussed the ambitious plan to increase bilateral trade turnover.

Ahmet Simsek, Department Head of Directorate General of Development Agencies of the Ministry of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Turkey, pointed out, “Turkey claimed the 17th spot overall and 2nd place in Europe by investment attractiveness. That is a huge success for us. We introduced flexible conditions for investors. We also created a special agency that works with investment. Moreover, we have investor support offices which provide assistance by detailing the investment procedure.”

Mehmet Altinsoy, Department Director at Turkish State Railways, addressed the importance of railways for the development of bilateral turnover, "We decided that we needed to restore the Kars – Sivas line in order to pursue the idea of connecting with Russia's railway system. We need to restore the silk road as it pertains to railway communications because it will provide a point of connection for the Middle East and Europe. We need this road to improve the situation with our supplies to Russia. If we can create a transfer terminal in Kars, it will expedite the process. We are prepared to set competitive shipping prices and rates and engage in active cooperation with Russian Railways."

First Deputy Chairman of the Government of Ulyanovsk Region Andrey Tyurin spoke about cooperation between his region and Turkey, “Ulyanovsk Region is actively cooperating with Turkey. We have an Efes brewery and a Magnum factory for the production of auto parts and are discussing the possibility of expanding current production. Ulyanovsk is implementing a project on localization of welding rod production and the creation of a research center. The Turkish investor, MANAGEMENT company, is currently blueprinting this facility. We are also engaged in negotiations with several companies on the production of composite materials, wind turbines., etc. All foreign investors who are working in the Ulyanovsk Region trust Turkish manufacturers. We are willing to make Turkish entrepreneurs rich and successful. Let us work and prosper together.”

Other session speakers included Acting Deputy CEO on Investment Relations of SEZ "Alabuga Evgeny Trushin, Member of the Board of Directors of Turkey’s Machinery Exporters' Association Sevda Kayhan Yilmaz, and First Deputy CEO of Russian Railways Logistics Eduard Alyrzaev.